Mayor recommends former city manager for next VIA board chair

Alex Briseño was city manager for a decade and served under four mayors.

Photo: San Antonio Express-News / File photo

SAN ANTONIO — Mayor Julián Castro is recommending former San Antonio City Manager Alex Briseño be the next chairman of VIA Metropolitan Transit, just as the agency prepares to design and construct its streetcar project.

Castro sent VIA trustees a letter asking that they consider Briseño, currently on the University Health System's board of managers and a professor at St. Mary's University. Briseño's election gives Castro a chance to put his stamp on the VIA board in a way he's never before done.

Briseño would replace Henry Muñoz III, who announced last fall he would step down Feb. 1, slightly less than a year before his term ends. He's delayed his departure another month until there's resolution of a legal dispute between VIA and the Texas attorney general's office.

September 2004-December 2004:
Interim president and CEO of San Antonio Water System

September 2005-March 2006:
Interim executive director of Brooks Development Authority

June 2006-May 2011:
Chairman of SAWS board of directors

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“I think there's very few people in the city of San Antonio who possess the unique experience of managing large, technically complex public projects,” Muñoz said. “Alex is one of those people.”

Briseño, no stranger to politics, was city manager more than a decade, working under four mayors and building a reputation as an astute fiscal manager.

The city was millions of dollars in debt when his tenure began; he cut hundreds of jobs and helped raise San Antonio's bond rating.

That financial acumen could be significant to VIA, which is lacking at least $70 million to build its planned $280 million streetcar system.

Briseño is married to current VIA trustee Mary Briseño, who's served eight years on the board, the maximum time allowed. She can remain until she's replaced but can't vote for chairman if her spouse is nominated by the board, said Frank Garza, VIA board attorney.

Mary Briseño said she does not plan to attend any more board meetings if her husband is nominated and didn't intend to stay on the board past January regardless.

Alex Briseño, who was not available for comment Thursday, would represent a stark contrast to the strong-willed Muñoz, who was recommended for the spot by Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff in 2008.

Muñoz is a highly connected businessman, political dealmaker and adept fundraiser, who's also known for his outsized personality and tendency to embroil himself in controversy.

When Muñoz announced his resignation last year, Wolff said he would look to Castro to pick a successor.

Whoever becomes the next VIA chairman will oversee execution of the transit agency's 5.9-mile streetcar, a project that signals the transformation of VIA from a bus-only system into one with rail. But the project has also drawn the ire of conservative groups that consider streetcar a textbook example of big government waste.

In his letter to the nominating committee, Castro wrote he strongly recommends Briseño for the position, noting his previous experience as city manager and also as chairman of the San Antonio Water System, the SAWS interim president and CEO and the Brooks Development Authority interim executive director.

“In all cases, Alex has worked to impact his community in significant ways through the successful implementation of impactful public investments, execution of strategic policy initiatives and direct oversight of significant capital projects,” the mayor wrote.

Castro was traveling in Washington on Thursday and couldn't be reached for comment.

The mayor's letter is dated Dec. 5 but trustees were provided the document at a nominating committee meeting Thursday, where they were scheduled to recommend a slate of candidates for board chairman, vice chair and secretary.

After an hourlong meeting in closed executive session, the board instead decided to delay choosing a list of nominees until it can meet with Briseño and assess his interest in the position.

That means the nominating committee will have to meet at least one more time before the full board can vote on the VIA officers. The election was scheduled for Jan. 28 but that could be delayed until VIA's February board meeting.

Current VIA trustees Steve Allison and Lou Miller have applied to be chairman. They've also asked to be considered for the vice chair and board secretary spots.

Trustees Richard Gambitta and Doug Poneck also have applied to be vice chair. Poneck, who was appointed by the mayor to the board two years ago, has submitted an application to be secretary.

VIA trustees can elect the chairman from among themselves or choose an outside candidate, such as Muñoz, who had never before served on the board when he was named chairman in late 2008.

Muñoz said he hopes the board will act as it did back then and choose Briseño.

“I feel like my skill set suited where we were, and Alex's skill set seems to fit where we're going, and I hope the board will consider that,” Muñoz said.

Vianna Davila was born and raised in San Antonio. She graduated from Rice University with a bachelor's degree in English in 2002. That year, she was hired at the San Antonio Express-News as a reporter for what was then the paper's community news section, Neighbors. In 2005, she joined the Express-News metro reporting staff, covering crime for the next two and a half years. Vianna left the paper in 2007 to pursue her master's in journalism-documentary at the University of California at Berkeley. Her thesis film, "In His Blood," won the prize for best short documentary at the San Antonio Film Festival in 2009. Shortly after graduation from Berkeley, she returned to the Express-News to cover general assignments, the city's Spanish colonial missions and to produce videos for the paper's website. She covered transportation from 2011 to 2015, for which she was named Express-News Reporter of the Year in 2013. Vianna led the Express-News’ in-depth look at San Antonio’s rapid growth, an 18-month investigation that resulted in the six-part "The Next Million" story project in the summer of 2016. She is now covering city government, with a continued focus on growth and development. Vianna is also an adjunct journalism instructor at Texas State University in San Marcos.